Gollop: Jordan can be a winner at Lydden

Motorsport

Will Gollop thinks his former protege Andrew Jordan can win the World Rallycross Championship round at Lydden Hill in May.

Jordan, the 2013 British Touring Car champion, will drive a Ford Fiesta in a one-off meeting for the MJP Racing Team Austria squad.

The 27-year-old worked with Gollop during his early career, first driving his Ford Focus Supercar in the British Rallycross Championship at a mere 16 years of age.

“Andrew could definitely win at Lydden,” Blean-based Gollop, 66, said. “You most certainly need a bit of luck in rallycross but he knows the circuit well and is a truly competitive driver.

“He has got to be in the final to win it and, if he gets there, he has got a good chance. It would be great if he wins it.”

Jordan narrowly missed out on the 2007 Supercar title, scoring multiple event victories in Gollop’s G- Tech Motorsport- prepared machine before switching to circuit racing.

In 2014, he scored a World Rallycross Championship podium finish at Lydden but has not competed in the sport since 2015.

“When I went to watch the Lydden event last year, it did hurt to not be competing,” Jordan said. “I thought then that I have

got to get something sorted and this deal was a bit unexpected which was nice.

“I will be going for four clean and consistent heats and then my aim will be to try to get to the final.”

Lichfield-based Jordan – who will drive a BMW in the British Touring Car Championship this season – will compete at Lydden on May 27-28. The event will mark 50 years of the sport before series bosses move the championship to Silverstone from 2018.

European 1992 champion Gollop, who was never victorious at his home round of the series, thinks Jordan’s extensive experience will stand him in good stead.

“Andrew is used to driving with lots of other cars around him, which is something drivers like Sebastien Loeb have struggled with a bit,” he added.

“I can understand how it hurt for him last year not to be racing – for years after retiring I didn’t want to go to Lydden to watch.

“The Fiestas were pretty competitive last season and they were getting quicker as the year went on – it would be nice for a British driver to win at Lydden.”

Visit www.lyddenhill.co.uk for details.